Joint Cooperation Committee approves Long-Term CPEC plan

The Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has approved the Long-Term Plan (LTP 2017-30) without agreeing on development projects and special economic zones.

The Dawn quoted sources as confirming that Chinese delegation was unhappy due to the political instability in Pakistan. The delegation thinks that it would negatively impact on the pace of CPEC progress, the Dawn reported.

After the meeting, Pakistan's Minister for Interior and Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal said, "Today we have reached the agreement and approved the LTP that will encompass bilateral economic cooperation until 2030."

China came up with its One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative in 2013. The project comprises a network of railways, roads and pipelines that would connect Pakistan's port city of Gwadar in the province of Balochistan, with the Chinese city of Kashgar in landlocked Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).

The human rights activists have, time and again, spoken about and highlighted the growing atrocities of Pakistan on the indigenous people of Balochistan and deteriorating human rights situation as a result of the CPEC.

Earlier this month, on the day the supreme body of the Communist Party of China met for its 19th Congress in Beijing, the Baloch leadership in exile issued a strong warning to China to stop the CPEC or face the ground consequences.

The CPEC passes across the disputed territory and is rejected by the Baloch as a "tool for exploiting the Baloch land."